November/December cookery book club - getting ready for Christmas!

[HuevosRancheros]

The regular book club has lapsed a bit recently, we are all busy, and I'm guessing we're only going to be busier as we head towards Christmas.

So here is an idea to avoid any new book purchases and start planning for Christmas - will you join me?

Two options, please join in whichever you fancy :)

1. Felicity Cloake's "How to cook the perfect..." series, from the guardian, but all available online

and/or

1. Digging out your tried and tested Christmas books and sharing your favourite recipes. Or try something new and report back :)

Today I'm going to do Felicity's rice pudding.

In the next couple of weeks I plan on trying her cinnamon buns, to see if they are as good/better than my go-tos for Christmas morning.

And in December I'm going to make her red cabbage (freeze for Christmas) and her Yule log

Everyone welcome, please join in :)

I have both the Delia and Nigella Christmas booms and the Delia one is superior IMO - Nigella recipes can be hit and miss, Delia never fails and her Vegetarian offerings are better. Nigella has slightly hipper recipes though, as well as some good food gift ideas - the peanut brittle is good.

My Mum has Darina Allen's Christmas book which is also good.

We did a cookery book club a couple of years ago focusing on Christmas books - did Nigella, Delia and some others - have a search and a read, you may get a feel for what kind of book you want :)
Tbh though, Christmas for me is a collection of recipes, can't imagine doing everything out of one book.

I've just done FC's cranberry sauce (I know it's early, but I got excited!)
It's cooling now, so will taste test it properly when it's cold, but for now: I would say it is too sweet (for me), I would cut down the sugar next time and add more at the end if I thought it needed it. Ditto the orange zest - it was fine with just the juice, but after adding the zest at the end, it is really quite orangey. It was quite a big orange, maybe that's where I went wrong, but next time I would add it slowly.

Overall - quick and easy, pretty tasty :)

Are you going to freeze the sauce Huevos? I make one with much less sugar than Delia's (using maple syrup) and the Xmas spices it's lovely. Orange gives me acid reflux so I leave it out, The cranberries are sour enough for me !

Darina Allen's recipe is the one in DS's magazine ,the GF chocolate puddings. I think I'll get Dan Lepards' book, is Darina Allens' worth getting?

I rate Darina so would be tempted by her Christmas book - her Irish Traditional Cooking is also superb. Her Christmas book has things you don't often come across

Yes ppeat I'm going to freeze it. I need some for my red cabbage (also going to be frozen), so I needed to make the cranberry first.
Think I'm going to shove some more cranberries in it to counteract the sugar and orange. It's nice, but more like jam in sweetness. And the orange zest doesn't make it sour/tangy, just very very orangey!

Thanks for all the range cooker recommendations. I've had a look on the property and DIY threads and found one on range cookers and range aster is definitely coming through as a favourite. So I'll restart the search with that in mind.

I bought nigella's Christmas on the back of a cookbook thread (it was second hand after Christmas, so a bargain) and I do like it. Many of the recipes are in other Nigella books but it is nice having it all in one place.

If anyone hasn't tried the cranberry, pecan and white chocolate biscuits in that book or feast, you are missing out!

Shame about the cranberry sauce, huevos. I'd make a second plain batch and then mix them together before freezing in batches. If it's on the tangy side, any surplus would go nicely in a pastry case to be then topped with meringue.

Got my first batch of fresh chestnuts today and can't wait to get roasting!

I like Saint Deels' books because her recipes are plain and well explained. I always change them because I don't use dairy or wheat flour and they still work!!!

Science Good idea about Huevas' cranberry sauce but she might then have enough left for next Christmas . It would be too strong for a pie filling IMO .

Right- I'm finally pulling myself into gear. Have for the Christmas books out. Will be making nigellas Christmas pud this weekend, Christmas cake, and the hairy bikers Christmas pudding vodka. All a little late but sod it.

I'll also try the cranberry and white choc cookies based on the recommendation on this thread.

Has anybody tried nigellas butternut squash orzotto? Is it nice? I can't bring myself to add it as part if a Christmas dinner ( it's a bizarre addition IMO, one that she has stuck to in fairness, but why is thee a barley risotto on your Christmas plate nigella?!?)but am think of making it alongside some chicken breast this week.

I haven't tried the orzotto but I love slices of butternut squash, or those small orange pumpkins, with Christmas dinner.

It sounds like you'll be busy Cookingon I haven't made the pudding yet, still deciding what to put in it it's not too late as long as the fruit is well soaked for a couple of days before making it! Iam going to buy the fruit today though! Oh and I found a bottle of good beer for it while clearing the kitchen (i always put far more alcohol in the pudding than the recipe says!).

The pecan and white chocolate cookies are definitely worth making. But I do find Nigela a bit hit and miss.

I have hers, Delia's and the Mary Berry Christmas books, and use a mixture of all of them although probably more Mary Berry than the others.

I have done the beetroot orzotto - it was ok, colours were nowhere near as good as the picture, so it looked a bit meh.

I love beetroot, I made a cannelloni bean and beetroot dip today. I'm freezing it because poor dh HATES it. (he was force fed it by a nun when he was 4).

So I have ordered Darina's Christmas book and D. Lepards's Short and sweet for early Xmas gifts .

ppeatfruit if you are a mince pie fan, I can highly recommend the extra rich mince pies in S&S, with ground almonds and cream cheese in the pastry - they are my regular mince pies now, looking forward to making some soon :)

Howdy!

I fell off the cookbook wagon despite starting the last thread.

Still struggling with gallstones and now been told I've got IBS. I'm also doing slimming world so adjusting to cooking healthier.

I'm going to try and join in though with some SW Xmas recipes from my new book.

Penelope- are you being refered to have your gall bladder removed? I suffered from stone attacks and ibs for a long time and having it out was one of the best things I've ever done. My ibs is so much more manageable with diet than before hand. I had to take mebeverine daily before having the gall bladder out- now I can control symptoms by avoiding certain triggers - no tablets. If you get the the pesky gall bladder out do it! Sorry to go off thread.

I have an appointment at the end of January to see about surgery. I saw 4 different GPs before one decided to refer me. It really bloody hurts.

They wanted me to lose 3 stone before they would refer me until I went and cried at them.

Thanks Huevas They sound amazing but not good for dh BTW what's S&S?

I make them for dh, I like the special ones I make for our health Penelope with almond pastry (using almond butter instead of dairy, Dan Lepard suggested it on the web chat he was on, on here) and molasses instead of sugar because he's a pre type 2 diabetic.

S&S = Short and Sweet

Thanks I'll take a look at that recipe Huevas.